Culture need not be connected to war.
Sharia law is connected to religion, which is only one part of culture, and not a necessary part.
The world does not revolve around the US, nor how the French are portrayed there, nor is the portrayal of French culture in the US totally negative, in fact it is quite positive in my view.
I suggest you read up on culture. Doing so in the language of that culture will make it even more interesting.
I think, that the relationship of culture and language depends on definition of culture. Probably language is separated from culture at narrow perception of culture. If the culture is considered as wider concept, language will be the integral part of culture.
Culture can be used as a neutral word, and it can be connected to a local area in a country, the whole country, a region composed of several countries, or the whole globe. It can also be connected to various types of groups, such as old people, middle class, and some groups are associated with a certain sub-culture. Every culture can be the focus of “we” and “they” typology, but whether it causes problems or not depends on various conditions. I might love the pride and prejudice of Jane Austen.
“What time do you go to bed at night?”
If you ask me what time I go to bed at night, I cannot respond to the question without some additional descriptions of the structure of my house. Strictly speaking, I don’t have a bedroom and never go to bed.
PS
I am not sleeping in a hammock.
I put futon down on a tatami floor.
YutakaM, hi!!!
“to go to bed” - it means “to go to sleep”. I think, you can respond to the question without some additional descriptions of the structure of your house. Basic sense - what time do you go to sleep usually (not important where you sleep).
But I am sorry. May be I did not understand you correctly 
The expression “to go to bed” in English presupposes a certain structure of houses in a particular culture.
I wanted to show the connection between language and culture. Yes, if I am asked what time I go to sleep, I can respond to the question without any additional descriptions. I think that the expression “to go to sleep” is culturally more neutral.
There are idioms of language. Idiom do not always reflect culture.
I suppose that the word “pianist” is “ピアニスト” in Japanese, but ピアニストis not just a pianist. If you say you are a pianist in Japanese, I will regard you as a professional pianist.
Ending “…ist” (pianist, biologist, scientist) proposes professional skills often. In Russia I do not say: “I am a pianist”.
I say: “I play the piano”. It means, that I can play on the piano. So, I think, that you understand correctly about my skills of playing the piano
The language is a natural and important part of our culture, but not the whole culture, of course, like the literature(the language culture) is a kind of arts, however, we have other kinds of art.
The new language is a gate into a new culture, but buidings, painting, even the cleanliness outside and inside homes are also parts of culture.
Special for Ks: you are not right - we can say both expressions in Russian: Я пианист(ка) and- Я играю на пианино
The same about me, I can say: I am a teacher -Я учитель and: I teach Russian, German and English- Я преподаю русский, немецкий и английский языки.
Hi, evgueny40!!!
In case with a teacher, you are right. There are not difference between “I am teacher” and “I teach English”. But I think, that expression “I am a pianist” means more professional skills than phrase “I play the piano”. As for me, I am not pianist, but I can play the piano.
Well, I can play the piano and even though I’m not a professional pianist, I consider myself to be a pianist (= someone who plays the piano). I can play pretty well.
I believe that nowadays people claim too often that they can play the piano, whereas they can only play the beginning of ‘Für Elise’ or some chords from the latest pop song they like. To me, you can play the piano if you’re comfortable with it in different situations (it’s like being able ‘to speak a language’). If you can play the piano, you are a pianist. If it’s your profession, you are a professional pianist.
What about hobbies? For example, I studied to play the piano at school time and now I learn musical composition from time to time. Therefore, I am not professional, it is not my profession. But I can not say that I do not play the piano.
i am resurrecting this ancient thread because i’ve been thinking about this topic a lot this afternoon. i’m pondering this in terms of 1. adults learning a second language 2. affective filter 3. a learner’s feelings about a culture and their progress in the target language.
Might cultural opposition (raising affective filter) be a limiting factor in learner language acquistion?
Can I get your comments please?
I tutor adult Spanish and Portuguese speaking professionals and executives who want to learn English. Most students are B1/B2 looking to improve their career prospects. I teach 95% one-on-one. I teach with a heavy emphasis on Comprehension and Communication.
let me be specific with a recent case. I have had a dozen or so like this in the last decade:
So, for the last few weeks I had a very interesting and intelligent adult student. He’s an engineer with his own firm. Well-traveled. B2 level. We conversed on a manner of subjects interesting to him: everyday life in his country, his family, politics in the USA and his country, cultural differences, food, business, the fine arts, and travel. Some nice conversations.
But one thing that struck me was the high number of times he would criticize my American culture. “I hate your XXX” “I don’t like your XXX.” “This XXX is terrible about the USA.” Examples: He hates our food, parts of our society, some customs, etc In fact, I never hear him actually say he liked anything about the USA or the culture here
I’ve learned not to take this kind of talk personally over the years. Nowadays, I see it as an opinion or belief. I acknowledge it and try to turn it into a opportunity for conversation practice:
“Oh, so you are saying that you aren’t comfortable with XXX? Ok I get that. It’s different from your country. Tell me how you do XXX in your country? Oh, ok. Why do you prefer that?”
“So you are saying you think American food is unsophisticated and boring? Ok. What specifically didn’t you like about dinner last night? Gotcha. So how is the beef cooked in your city? What do you prefer about that?”
I understand that English is a global second language. And the USA isn’t the only country where English is spoken.
So, maybe these types of adult students-- the ones that want to learn English but kind of dislike the USA… maybe they might find the UK, Canada, Australia , etc. more “culturally suitable” places to have their intensive language courses. And thus, maybe their language acquisition would be faster/higher because they aren’t struggling with the culture?
What do you think?
Language is a system of symbols, and each symbol refers to something important in the world where we live.
Culture can be used as a neutral word, and it can be connected to a local area in a country, the whole country, a region composed of several countries, or the whole globe. It can also be connected to various types of groups, such as old people, middle class, and some groups are associated with a certain sub-culture. Every culture can be the focus of “we” and “they” typology, but whether it causes problems or not depends on various conditions.
If you could separate language from culture, you could also separate culture from language. But, you cannot imagine a human society with a distinct culture without any language, although I assume that there were preliterate societies in human history.
“… more ‘culturally suitable’ places to have their intensive language courses. And thus, maybe their language acquisition would be faster/higher because they aren’t struggling with the culture?”
“More culturally suitable places” might be established everywhere by choosing appropriate topics your students want to talk about. Some students want to talk about US politics, some don’t want to talk about climate change, and some are not interested in American food, … Many people think that topics related politics, religion, and sex should be avoided, but some students might have keen interests in these matters.
“You have a memory like an elephant. “
I wonder who began using this expression. If you can see elephants only at the zoo, you will not be able to know if they have a good memory or not.
That is all very interesting, and the way you handle those comments is very good, I think.
Absolutely don’t take it personally, I don’t think they really hate anything or anybody, that is just the way we talk… We are simply more open (and hyperbolic) about our opinions, we don’t see that as being impolite or rude, but as being sincere and telling the truth about what we think. Like it is not a big deal, just a personal opinion, right?
Those engineers you hear over there saying nasty things about your culture will come back home one day and will complain about how they miss the US and its people, and how we should be more independent, entrepreneurial, and how Spain is going downhill because we don’t learn from the americans and we are so lazy and loud… Have you tried asking them about what they don’t like about their country, or what they do love about the US? I bet they also have strong opinions about that.
If all that makes it harder to learn a new language I don’t know. Let’s see what the experts have to say.